Monday, June 1, 2009

the big five oh

As most of you know, this weekend marked David's 50th birthday. He did not want a big deal made of it, so, you know, that circus I had hired for the backyard had to be canceled. But I wanted to do something, something that let him know how grateful I am that he is in my life.

So I came up with 50 things that I love about him, and typed them up. I wracked my brain trying to figure out a creative way to present them to him. He LOVES lilacs, so I thought about getting him a lilac bush and hanging the little tags from the branches. But that didn't seem right. I thought about making (from scratch) 50 fortune cookies and putting one little strip of paper in each one. But that seemed like a lot of work on both ends. Finally, I had a brilliant idea.

But first I have to tell you this story: a couple that we know is in the midst of a divorce. This couple is has done dozens and dozens of self-help and marital workshops, and they speak the language. So when announcing their divorce, they said that they wanted their family to be "a loving container." Now, David and I had a good laugh about this because that phrase is so comically new-agey sounding. What the hell does that mean, anyway?? We wondered aloud: "Where would one GET a loving container? Do they sell them on ebay? Is there a lovingcontainer.com? Are there different sizes and shapes of loving containers??" We've had a lot of fun with it over the past few weeks, using it whenever we could: "Honey, I'm putting the leftovers away. Can you please hand me a loving container from that cupboard?" or "Sweetie, have you seen that loving container of blueberries I put in the fridge yesterday?"

So the day before David's birthday, I went down to an art-fest that happened to be going on, and I found a cool little ceramic pot. David loves pottery and this one is totally his style. Then I cut up all the little strips of paper listing all the things I love about him and gave it to him on Saturday morning. That's right: a real loving container.

(you can click on the photo to see it larger)

The thing is? It was EASY to come up with 50 things I love about this man. I'm already looking forward to his 90th birthday.

It truly was about the best birthday I've ever had, even though the thought of turning 50 still has me a bit dizzy. Sorry honey, I don't know about 90. By then one of the slips will be "I love that you can still wipe your own butt". (At least I hope I can.)

about me

I am a bleeding-heart liberal, smart-ass, book-loving craft geek. Married to the love of my life, mother of 1 smart, smart-alec 10 year old. I ran my first marathon at 44 and can't wait to run another.